Dept. of Small Mercies

[kaffy_r]

The Weekend. Dear Lord, the Weekend

Monday: Sinead 
Tuesday: More Sinead
Wednesday: Union rep at two discipline hearings, 1 clearcut, 1 less so. Learned I'd be getting another town added to my beats, with at least 3 more beats in said town.
Thursday: Can't remember, because of Monday-Wednesday. Not enough stories written
Friday: Results of discipline hearings. Teh Suck. Not enough stories written.

BUT ... This 

"Hymn to Friday" (Watch on YouTube)

Also, old-fashioned jazz, and a mimosa. 

And a very handsome husband.

Maybe things are looking up?

Comments

[heliopausa]

Blessings on the old-fashioned jazz, and the mimosa, and the handsome husband! :)

[kaffy_r]

The jazz was a wonderful accompaniment to supper, the Mimosa was the same, and the husband looked lovely, especially since he surprised me by shaving off his beard. He looks tremendously Santa-like, and very dignified, with the beard - but he looks even more handsome without it. Heh.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

Sounds like it was looking up at the end... :)

[kaffy_r]

I had a very enjoyable evening, so it did turn out all right!

[flowsoffire.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[kaffy_r]

Thanks - have some hugs right back!

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Gahhh, what a week!

But...a good end to it, yes?

*HUGS*

[kaffy_r]

Indeed, it was a good end. On the work end, someone called who I'd not been expecting, and we had a good telephone interview, the results of which should make an existing story much, much better. And on the relaxation end, BB and I watched far too much anime, which is just as it should be.

*hugs back*

[liadt]

I hope so! Popstar free at least!

[kaffy_r]

I've had quite a number of interesting conversations about said pop star, and they all have led me to hope that she is able to recover in relative privacy; also I've talked to people who have talked to her, and they say she is a lovely person, so all the more reason to wish her well.

And I had quite the enjoyable evening, to bring an end to the week. Hurrah!

[thisbluespirit]

Aw, well, may it be a lovely weekend for you! ♥ (Sorry about the week. It sounds rotten. :-/)

[kaffy_r]

It was a ... trying ... week. But now it's the weekend, and I rejoice!

Catching up on my friends feed, Part 2

[strannik01.livejournal.com]

Learned I'd be getting another town added to my beats, with at least 3 more beats in said town.

See, this is something I've always been curious about. Beats, I mean. As a stringer for Niles Herald-Spectator, I eventually wound up writing everything that wasn't crime or sports. Crime was handled by the staff writer who pretty much writing most of Park Ridge Herald-Advocate.

So what I'm saying is that I've always kind of assumed that each staff writer gets a town, some extra stuff on top of it, and we stringers filled in whichever towns Pioneer Press wouldn't hire staff reporters for. I didn't realize staff writers had beats (other then sports and entertainment)

(In related thought, when Pioneer Press adopted Tribune-style bylines, I was surprised at how many reporters I thought were staff were actually stringers)

Re: Catching up on my friends feed, Part 2

[kaffy_r]

So what I'm saying is that I've always kind of assumed that each staff writer gets a town, some extra stuff on top of it, and we stringers filled in whichever towns Pioneer Press wouldn't hire staff reporters for. I didn't realize staff writers had beats (other then sports and entertainment)

Actually, you're correct. My official beat is Wilmette - but that includes several sub-beats; Wilmette municipality, Wilmette police, Wilmette Park District, School District 39, School District 37, School District 38. Smaller sub-beats that I was responsible for: Kenilworth police, Kenilworth village.

Each of those could be considered a bit in and of themselves, because they can generate a surprising amount of news, which I can only partly cover. In a larger community, one reporter might be assigned the school beat, another might be assigned solely to cops, while another might handle the municipalities.

Some of them I cover regularly and constantly. Others I only occasionally get to, or only do features on.

With Winnetka, I imagine I'll try to focus on the village and park board, at least major village stories, and features from the park district. That will definitely be what I have to do with the school districts up there. So, yeah, loads of fun.